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Love the vids, You did a great job. I just purchased the same pack. I was thinking I wanted something lighter but was sold on the ventilation it gives "I live in Florida and its always hot = sweaty back". I haven't tried it out yet but it has a nice fit to it.

Greg; just finished your last video. Thanks for taking us along. I new about tenkara fishing from a japanese movie before i new what it was. Great idea for folks who want to fish on their trips. Your guitar piece is good. As an ex finger picker i know it when i hear it. You should publish your song. It has background for a movie written all over it. I like the area your hiking in. It has some elevation but looks like lots of openness and trails. Thanks for sharing

bill

" The mind creates the abyss, the heart crosses it."

“The measure of your life will not be in what you accumulate, but in what you give away.” ~Wayne Dyer

I just looked that up. Is that the Castle Peak just north of highway 80 near Bunny Hill Drive? If so then you were only 12 miles east of me. My area was just off of Bowman Lake Road north of Fuller Lake.

I will have to look at my maps to see what trails are up there. I've pretty much hike everywhere in this little valley. I could use a few new trails.

Originally Posted by Bruciehi5

Part 1
Hi there GregB! That sure is a nice place to hike and I liked that you pointed out where you were last time. My floppy hat is off to you for dropping so much weight!

BrucieHi5 : I gotta say, your post are always so positive. I really appreciate that. Yeah, I'm happy to be dropping the weight as well. Back when I had dropped my first 20 pounds my Dr. said "That's great, I need you to do that 2 more times."

I wish he had lingered on the "That's Great" part a bit longer.

Originally Posted by Shug

Watched the first one. Your guitar work is really working well on your video. Glad to see you so enthusiastic out there.
Shug

Thanks Shug. And as I mentioned in the first video, you were a big influence (some might say "a bad influence')

I should be clear that the opening music is a local Grass Valley band named "City Folk". I'm not in that band but I heartily recommend buying the mp3 files to their CD "Shadows on the wall" on Amazon (I don't know if the physical CD is still available). I really enjoy their music.

I only played on the closing music of video 1 & 2 and then the guitar work on video 3.

Originally Posted by mojob

I just purchased the same pack. I was thinking I wanted something lighter but was sold on the ventilation it gives "I live in Florida and its always hot = sweaty back". I haven't tried it out yet but it has a nice fit to it.

Extreme thru-hiker Andrew Skurka talks about the difference between "light" and "Stupid Light". "Stupid Light" is when you save weight by doing something which compromises your comfort or safety. That pack fits so well that I really felt that buying one of the lighter packs which didn't quite fit would be a good example of "Stupid Light". I'd save a pound but I wouldn't be comfortable.

Is one pound worth that much extra comfort? I think so.

Originally Posted by mbiraman

I knew about tenkara fishing from a japanese movie before i new what it was. Great idea for folks who want to fish on their trips. Your guitar piece is good. As an ex finger picker i know it when i hear it.

bill

Bill, I bet you've got some great fishing in your area. Yeah, I'm a big fan of Tenkara. I don't think I've brought out my 4wt since I bought my Tenkara rod earlier this year.

The first outdoor video I ever tried making was of a Tenkara fishing trip up near Donner pass last month. I'll post it here. You might enjoy it.

Greg - just realized that was you playing on your video. Very nice music! Love to see you play in your next video.

Castle Peak is across the freeway from the Boreal Ski area. It's where you pick up the PCT. I do alot of my winter hangs there. Would love to hook up with you down in the Grouse Ridge area. There are a few of us who tried to make it out to Glacier Lake this past year. Love the area!

trailhead is where now?

Excellent trip report and vids Greg! What rd might I take to get to that trailhead? I live outside Sac and recently started to do some hiking/camping in the sierras near tahoe. Couple weeks ago I headed to castle peak. Beautiful area!

Excellent trip report and vids Greg! What rd might I take to get to that trailhead? I live outside Sac and recently started to do some hiking/camping in the sierras near tahoe. Couple weeks ago I headed to castle peak. Beautiful area!

Take 80 east towards Tahoe.

When you get to the 20 junction just past Yuba gap get on the 20 towards Grass Valley (the only direction you can go)

Go a few miles to Bowman Lake Road. Turn right on Bowman Lake Road.

Go about 6 miles or so (I'm not sure of the exact mileage) You'll go past Fuller Lake.

Watch for the dirt roads with signs on the right. One of the first is Grouse Ridge. You can follow that dirt road for 6 miles to the Grouse Ridge campground. There's also a backpacking staging area where you can park and leave your car.

I continue down Bowman Lake road to the next dirt road which is marked as "Carr Lake, Feely Lake, Linsey Lake". That dirt road is only 3 miles long (but the last 100 hundred years is brutal. Go slowly). Don't take any of the turnoffs, just stay on the main dirt road and 3 miles later you'll be at the parking area.

Follow the dirt road past the closed gate for the trails. The trail map sign is at that gate on the right.

That's 2 people who have mentioned Castle Peak. I've never been there. I think I need to go check it out.

GB - Hiking as weight loss...I get it. I have shrunk a whole inch off my waist this summer. REI is a great resource. I couldn't try on the VC 60 there, but they were pretty helpful anyway.
Were you the Californian looking at my VC60 vids?